The amount of detail that went into Fleetwood Mac’s song Dreams is extremely interesting when it comes to deconstructing it and figuring out just how it was made into such a classic that sounds just as good today as it did back when it was released. If you look at how the song sounds now it’s just as good and people are just as into it as they were back in the 70’s when it was first produced. There’s one big reason why this is so however, and that’s because the band was allowed all the time they needed in order to get this song out, and they had backing from Warner Bros., which was a big boon back then and allowed them to take control over every little part of the music.
These advantages are a big part of why the song is still so popular and well-liked. Having nearly a year to fiddle around with the sounds they needed and experimenting with different methods to make it sound so great is something that a lot of artists would kill to have. However a lot of music these days is so streamlined and in such demand that artists have little time to really allow the song to develop the way that Fleetwood Mac did. The cookie cutter sounds that are being produced today are enough to satisfy a lot of people in terms of what sounds good and what will last for at least a month or more when it comes to musical satisfaction, but they don’t have the same staying power. For instance, something like Barbie Girl, while campy and good for a laugh, doesn’t have the same emotional punch as Dreams.
The song was written not long after Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham parted ways, and the powerful emotions that are written into the song and given voice by Nicks are a big part of what made this song so memorable to so many. It’s become something of an iconic track throughout history and even while a lot of other Fleetwood Mac songs aren’t as revered this one is bound to be remembered for many years to come.
As the clip says though the band didn’t really invent the wheel with this one, they played around and covered the wheel with liquid gold in order to make the song look and sound like something that people just had to have. It worked too since people have raved about this song in the past and have listened to it over and over for decades. The song still comes on the radio on a regular basis on some stations, and is still able to invoke a pleasant feeling in those that hear it. Something about Stevie Nicks’ voice is just so awesome that even during the demo that’s presented in the clip she just seems able to lift the tune above something ordinary and plain into a different level where it can be considered almost ethereal in nature, kind of like the voice of an angel.
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